ERA and MECP launch Marine and Beach Clean-Ups reporting facility as part of the Saving Our Blue Campaign

The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) launched its Marine and Beach Clean-Ups reporting facility during a beach clean-up organized by the Saving Our Blue campaign run by the Ministry for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning (MECP).

This web-based delivery service will enable coordinated data gathering related to waste collected through organized marine and beach clean-ups around the Maltese islands. This data will help the Environment and Resources Authority in their scientific evaluations.

This service is easily accessible to all clean-up organizers via the new ERA website – era.org.mt. Anyone organizing a clean-up is urged to fill in this form or simply visit era.org.mt > outreach > citizen science > Marine and Beach Clean-ups.

The launch of this new service comes spot on with the timing of the Saving Our Blue Campaign’s various clean-up initiatives for summer 2020, during which large amounts of cigarette butts and microplastics are being collected from local beaches. Examples include clean-ups held at Rinella Bay, Golden bay, Ramla Bay and Għajn Tuffieħa Bay.

ERA together with the Ministry for the Environment, Climate change and Planning are engaging the public through the Saving Our Blue Campaign to increase the fight against marine litter and the negative impacts of using single-use plastics. The campaign seeks to address these challenges by educating and engaging citizens, collaborating with NGOs and the private sector and encouraging a unified call to action that can support national movements to influence change. For more information, follow the Saving Our Blue Campaign on Facebook and Instagram.

7 August